Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho praised Paul Pogba for “putting himself forward for the team” after he captained the side and scored the opening goal in the win over Leicester City on the first day of the Premier League season.
Pogba – linked with Barcelona this summer – was a surprise starter only four days after his return to training, having won the World Cup with France just under a month ago.
The hosts made a flying start at Old Trafford, winning a penalty in the second minute when Daniel Amartey handled Alexis Sanchez’s deflected shot.
Pogba stepped up and, after a typically nonchalant slow run-up, placed the ball in the top-right corner above Kasper Schmeichel.
Left-back Luke Shaw then scored the first senior goal of his career after controlling Juan Mata’s aerial pass to double their lead.
Substitute Jamie Vardy headed a late consolation for Leicester after Ricardo Perreira’s cross had hit a post, and Foxes goalkeeper Schmeichel came forward for an injury-time corner but his header went wide.
Pogba lasted 84 minutes before being replaced by Marouane Fellaini, but Mourinho said he did not expect the Frenchman to play for so long.
“We thought maximum 60 minutes but he managed over 80,” said the United boss. “The decision belonged to Paul. I asked him and he made himself available and he was very good.
“Paul’s contribution was amazing but the fuel was disappearing.”
]]>https://en.smanews.org/pogba-impresses-mourinho-in-man-utd-win-over-leicester/feed0Chelsea defender Zouma joins Everton on season-long loanhttps://en.smanews.org/chelsea-defender-zouma-joins-everton-on-season-long-loan
https://en.smanews.org/chelsea-defender-zouma-joins-everton-on-season-long-loan#respondSun, 12 Aug 2018 12:46:36 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7715SMA News – Agencies

Everton have signed French centre back Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan from Chelsea, the Premier League clubs announced on Friday.
The Merseyside club made a late move for the 23-year-old ahead of Thursday’s 1600 GMT (5 pm BST) transfer deadline, and had to wait until Friday to learn if their bid was successful.
Zouma has made 71 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea before falling out of favour under former manager Antonio Conte, featuring in only nine league matches during the title winning 2016-17 campaign.
He spent last season at Stoke City and made 34 league appearances but could not prevent their relegation from the top-flight.
Zouma joins Brazil midfielder Bernard, Barcelona trio Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne, Richarlison and goalkeeper Joao Virginia in arriving at Goodison Park in the close season.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/chelsea-defender-zouma-joins-everton-on-season-long-loan/feed0Liverpool 3-1 Torino: Reds end pre-season with victory at Anfieldhttps://en.smanews.org/liverpool-3-1-torino-reds-end-pre-season-with-victory-at-anfield
https://en.smanews.org/liverpool-3-1-torino-reds-end-pre-season-with-victory-at-anfield#respondWed, 08 Aug 2018 23:32:23 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7637SMA News – Agencies

Liverpool concluded their preparations for the new season with a victory over Italian side Torino at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were too clever, quick and powerful for their opponents throughout the game, despite making numerous changes at the break and further substitutions throughout the second half.
Roberto Firmino and Georginio Wijnaldum were on target in the first half for a strong-starting Reds XI that featured three summer signings – goalkeeper Alisson and midfielders Naby Keita and Fabinho, the latter of whom missed the chance to open the scoring from the penalty spot after Sadio Mane had been fouled in the box.
The visitors rarely threatened but pulled a goal back through Andrea Belotti’s powerful close-range header.
With West Ham visiting Anfield for the Premier League opener on Sunday, Klopp withdrew most of his first string, giving run-outs to the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Danny Ings and Marko Grujic, along with another off-season recruit, Xherdan Shaqiri.
It was Sturridge who rounded off the scoring, steering in a header from Shaqiri’s neat chipped cross late in the match.
Despite the restricted game-time for most, there was enough quality to demonstrate Liverpool’s readiness for the coming campaign.
Firmino’s deflected opener from inside the box came from the eagerness and awareness of Mohamed Salah, who harried and picked up the loose ball before supplying a neat pass to his fellow forward.
The second goal was better, with Wijnaldum driving into the box and receiving Firmino’s pinpoint pass in his stride before stroking in a low shot.
And while Sturridge and Shaqiri may not start Sunday’s game, they have the predatory instinct and creative ability to make a significant impact from the bench if required.
There was also another promising display from 21-year-old Nathaniel Phillips, who played almost the full 90 minutes at centre-back, and a nice moment midway through the second half when Loris Karius, whose errors contributed to Liverpool’s defeat in last season’s Champions League final, replaced Alisson to huge cheers from the home crowd.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/liverpool-3-1-torino-reds-end-pre-season-with-victory-at-anfield/feed0IJF suspends Abu Dhabi Grand Slam and the Tunis Grand Prixhttps://en.smanews.org/ijf-suspends-abu-dhabi-grand-slam-and-the-tunis-grand-prix
https://en.smanews.org/ijf-suspends-abu-dhabi-grand-slam-and-the-tunis-grand-prix#respondTue, 07 Aug 2018 20:08:45 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7600SMA News – Agencies

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam and the Tunis Grand Prix from its competition calendar, saying it wants to take a “firm and constructive stance in the fight against discrimination in sport.”
Last year, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam was criticized for refusing to display Israel’s flag for the country’s athletes and for not playing the Israeli national anthem.
The United Arab Emirates has no diplomatic ties with Israel and, like most other Arab countries, doesn’t recognize Israel as a state.
Earlier this year, World Taekwondo — the sport’s governing body — issued a statement regretting a Tunisian court’s decision to ban four Israeli athletes from competing at the World Junior Championships in Hammamet..
“The International Judo Federation is committed to promoting the moral principles and values of Judo, Olympism and sport in general, thus making an active contribution to the promotion of peace and equality between nations, races and genders,” the IJF wrote in a statement.
Judo’s moral code, created by the sport’s founder Jigoro Kano, preaches a set of ethics encouraging friendship, courage and honor.
“The IJF Statutes reflect this approach in article 1. 2: ‘IJF shall not discriminate on the ground of race, religion, gender or political opinion,'” added the IJF statement.
Israeli judoka Tal Flicker won gold in the men’s half-lightweight division at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam last year, but tournament organizers refused to raise Israel’s flag or play the national anthem.
Instead of Hatikvah, Israel’s traditional national anthem, tournament organizers played the official music of the IJF and raised the logo of judo’s governing body in place of the Israeli flag.
In quiet defiance, Flicker sang Hatikvah quietly to himself atop the podium.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/ijf-suspends-abu-dhabi-grand-slam-and-the-tunis-grand-prix/feed0Demba Ba victim of alleged racial abuse in Chinese Super League gamehttps://en.smanews.org/demba-ba-victim-of-alleged-racial-abuse-in-chinese-super-league-game
https://en.smanews.org/demba-ba-victim-of-alleged-racial-abuse-in-chinese-super-league-game#respondTue, 07 Aug 2018 00:33:11 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7587SMA News – Agencies

Former Newcastle and Chelsea striker Demba Ba has been the victim of alleged racial abuse during a Chinese Super League game, according to his Shanghai Shenhua manager Wu Jingui.
The Senegal star, 33, was involved in a heated exchange with a Changchun Yatai opponent in their 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Ba, who also played for West Ham, rejoined Shenhua in June.
“I learned that a Yatai player used insulting language toward him [Ba],” said Wu.
“Around the world, it has been stressed that there should be no insulting speech toward black athletes.
“The Chinese Super League has players of many different skin colours. We should respect our opponents and there should be no discrimination.”
Turkish side Besiktas tweeted support for their former player saying: “#NoToRacism, You’re not alone”.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/demba-ba-victim-of-alleged-racial-abuse-in-chinese-super-league-game/feed0Serena Williams suffers worst defeat of her careerhttps://en.smanews.org/serena-williams-suffers-worst-defeat-of-her-career
https://en.smanews.org/serena-williams-suffers-worst-defeat-of-her-career#respondWed, 01 Aug 2018 22:54:44 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7480SMA News – Agencies

Serena Williams is usually the one who inflicts heavy defeats on others, but the former world No.1 suffered the most one-sided loss of her illustrious career Tuesday when she was knocked out of the first round of the Silicon Valley Classic after a 6-1 6-0 defeat.
During a 53-minute rout, British No.1 Johanna Konta, ranked 48th in the world, won 12 games in a row — including two service games to love in the second set — to progress to the second round in San Jose.
Williams, a 23-time grand slam champion who only returned to the tour from maternity leave earlier this year, served seven double faults and made 25 unforced errors in, according to the WTA, the most one-sided loss of her career.
Since turning professional in 1995, the 36-year-old Williams had never before lost a match without winning at least two games.
“I think she played well in the second set and I think I wasn’t sharp at all in the first set and she got confident and she clearly ran away with it,” Williams, who reached the Wimbledon final earlier this month, told reporters.
Konta, who was a career-high No.4 in the world last year, becomes the first Briton to beat Williams.
“She obviously wasn’t playing anywhere near her best level but I was just trying to play the match on my terms and do what I can out here and put aside the incredible champion she is and play the player on the day,” Konta said in an on-court interview.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/serena-williams-suffers-worst-defeat-of-her-career/feed0Qatar denies claims it ran secret ‘black operation’ to secure 2022 World Cuphttps://en.smanews.org/qatar-denies-claims-it-ran-secret-black-operation-to-secure-2022-world-cup
https://en.smanews.org/qatar-denies-claims-it-ran-secret-black-operation-to-secure-2022-world-cup#respondWed, 01 Aug 2018 17:19:32 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7453SMA News – Agencies

Qatar World Cup organizers have denied allegations they ran a “black operations” campaign in their successful effort to secure the 2022 tournament.
The bid team hired former CIA agents and a PR firm tasked with “pumping out fake propaganda about its main rivals, the United States and Australia,” according to emails from a whistleblower who had worked with the bid team on its World Cup campaign, leaked to the British newspaper The Sunday Times.
The Qatari Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which oversees the planning and infrastructure of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, told CNN in a statement on Sunday that it “rejects each and every allegation put forward by The Sunday Times.”
“We have been thoroughly investigated and have been forthcoming with all information related to our bid, including the official investigation led by [American] attorney Michael Garcia,” the statement said, apparently in reference to a 2014 FIFA inquiry into allegations of bidding corruption.
“We have strictly adhered to all FIFA’s rules and regulations for the 2018/2022 World Cup bidding process,” it added.
The two-year FIFA inquiry cleared Qatar of allegations of corruption during its bidding for the World Cup
One of FIFA’s key criteria for deciding which country hosts the World Cup is whether there is strong backing for the tournament domestically.
As part of the Qatar bid team’s alleged dirty tricks campaign, influential people were recruited to attack the bids in their own countries, according to emails leaked to The Sunday Times by a whistleblower from the Qatar bid team.
One of the emails, dated May 2010, was sent from communications company Brown Lloyd James (BLJ) to a senior advisor on the Qatar bid team, giving a report on a covert operation to undermine the candidacies of competitor countries.
CNN reached out to the London offices of BLJ, the firm mentioned in the newspaper’s report, but they were not available for comment.
The Sunday Times reported on one professor who reportedly was paid $9,000 to write a damning report about the economic cost of the World Cup in the US, which was then pushed out to international media.
Journalists and bloggers also were recruited to hype up negative stories, spy on rivals and create grassroots protests, according to The Sunday Times report.
The allegations add to the storm of controversy over Qatar being awarded the tournament, including a Human Rights Watch report last year that found migrant construction workers were laboring in potentially life-threatening heat and humidity.
At the time, Sheik Saif Al Thani, director of the Government Communications Office, told CNN in a statement that Qatar was committed to a labor reform program and was constantly reviewing its policies to ensure that “migrant workers receive the necessary on-site protections.”
]]>https://en.smanews.org/qatar-denies-claims-it-ran-secret-black-operation-to-secure-2022-world-cup/feed0Tour de France 2018: Geraint Thomas wins to make sporting historyhttps://en.smanews.org/tour-de-france-2018-geraint-thomas-wins-to-make-sporting-history
https://en.smanews.org/tour-de-france-2018-geraint-thomas-wins-to-make-sporting-history#respondWed, 01 Aug 2018 02:38:20 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7439SMA News – Agencies

Sporting history was made on the Champs-Elysees Sunday as Geraint Thomas became the first Welshman to win cycling’s Tour de France.
Arm-in-arm with 2017 champion and Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, the 32-year-old Thomas crossed the finishing line after the 21st and final stage in Paris in triumph.
His eventual victory had been a mere formality after Saturday’s individual time trial stage which left him with a one minute 51 second advantage over second-placed Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands.
Four-time champion Froome completed the podium, having started the three-week Tour as race favorite.
Sunday’s stage, which started in the Paris suburbs before eight high-speed laps of a circuit taking in iconic landmarks in the French capital, was won by Alexander Kristoff of Norway, the European champion.
But the spotlight was firmly on Thomas, so long in the shadows of teammates past and present, Bradley Wiggins, the first British winner of the famous race in 2012, then Froome.
His victory continued Team Sky’s domination of the Tour de France, with its British riders claiming six of the last seven editions, much to the disquiet of the French sporting public, who have given Thomas, Froome and their teammates a mixed reception over the course of the three-week race.
Thomas, a two-time Olympic champion for Great Britain in track cycling before turning his full attention to the road, took it all in his stride and after dominating the mountain stages in the Alps with two superb victories, maintained his advantage in the Pyrenees and on the final time trial to hold off his closest rivals for the prized crown in cycling.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/tour-de-france-2018-geraint-thomas-wins-to-make-sporting-history/feed0Former Fifa executive Jerome Valcke loses CAS appeal against 10-year banhttps://en.smanews.org/former-fifa-executive-jerome-valcke-loses-cas-appeal-against-10-year-ban
https://en.smanews.org/former-fifa-executive-jerome-valcke-loses-cas-appeal-against-10-year-ban#respondSat, 28 Jul 2018 23:08:05 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7377SMA News – Agencies

Sepp Blatter’s former right-hand man Jerome Valcke has failed in an attempt to have a 10-year ban from football overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), the Lausanne-based tribunal has announced.
Valcke worked under Blatter at FIFA from 2003 to 2015, spending the last eight years as the organization’s secretary general.
But the 57-year-old Frenchman’s tenure ended in typically controversial fashion when he was suspended in September 2015 for a series of alleged breaches of Fifa’s code of ethics related to the resale of World Cup tickets, inflated travel expenses, bribery and failure to cooperate with investigators.
Fifa’s ethics committee found him guilty and originally gave him a 12-year ban in February 2016, which was reduced to 10 years by Fifa’s appeal committee in June 2016. He was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs, around £77,000.
Valcke then took his fight to Cas in February 2017 and a hearing took place in October but the three-man panel, which included leading British QC Michael Beloff, confirmed the Fifa appeal committee ruling.
In a statement, Cas said: “The panel concluded that the offences found to have been committed by Jerome Valcke were cumulatively of a serious degree of gravity and that, therefore, the sanctions of a 10-year ban and fine of CHF 100,000 were wholly proportionate.”
Valcke’s defeat at Cas follows earlier failures to overturn Fifa bans by Blatter in December 2016 and ex-Uefa chief Michel Platini, once considered Blatter’s most likely successor, last summer.
]]>https://en.smanews.org/former-fifa-executive-jerome-valcke-loses-cas-appeal-against-10-year-ban/feed0Man City 1-2 Liverpool: Mohamed Salah & Sadio Mane score in Reds winhttps://en.smanews.org/man-city-1-2-liverpool-mohamed-salah-sadio-mane-score-in-reds-win
https://en.smanews.org/man-city-1-2-liverpool-mohamed-salah-sadio-mane-score-in-reds-win#respondFri, 27 Jul 2018 22:57:02 +0000https://en.smanews.org/?p=7353SMA News – Agencies

Mohamed Salah wasted no time in returning to goalscoring form as Liverpool came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 in New Jersey.
The Egypt forward, who scored 44 goals in 52 games for the Reds last season, equalised Leroy Sane’s second-half goal barely a minute after coming on as a substitute in front of a 52,000 crowd.
Salah had another header cleared off the line and hit the bar.
Sadio Mane’s injury-time penalty won the International Champions Cup match.
Salah and Senegal forward Mane were both playing for the first time since their countries were knocked out of the World Cup at the group stage.
City’s Bernardo Silva – whose Portugal side went out at the last-16 stage – made his first pre-season appearance, but the Blues are still without 15 other players who were on duty in Russia.
“It is incredible what we have done with the players we have for 75 minutes against the Champions League finalists,” said City boss Pep Guardiola after the game.
Lukas Nmecha went close for City and Curtis Jones might have won a penalty for Liverpool before the break.
The action livened up after after Mane, wearing the number 10 shirt he has been given for the new season, and Sane were introduced.
When City countered quickly after Dominic Solanke’s strike had been ruled out for offside, Sane outpaced the Liverpool defence before shooting into the far corner.
Salah equalised virtually straight after he replaced Jones, heading Rafa Camacho’s cross in after being left unmarked.
Mane won it from the spot after Solanke had been fouled.
The game was played on a poor pitch in a stadium which had hosted a Taylor Swift pop concert at the weekend.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “I was not worried about the pitch, I was more worried for the pitch – we killed it completely.
“The stadium is great. The dressing room is as big as Anfield. The crowd is sensational. The pitch is not perfect.”
]]>https://en.smanews.org/man-city-1-2-liverpool-mohamed-salah-sadio-mane-score-in-reds-win/feed0